"And the second is, that you remain at Oak Hall and fight your way through in spite of what some of the fellows say. Show one and all that you want to make a man of yourself, and sooner or later they will respect you."
"It will be a terribly hard thing to do."
"Never mind, Gus, I will help you all I can, and I am sure some of the others will help you, too."
For a full minute Gus Plum was silent, looking out of the long window at the gathering darkness of the short winter day. Then he turned again to Dave.
"All right, I'll take you up and stay, and I'll do my level best to deserve your kindness, Dave," he said, in a husky voice.
"Good! Now here is the money, in five-dollar bills. If you don't mind, I'll go along when you pay those fellows. I want to see that you get a receipt in full from them. As you say you owe them the money, we'll let it go at that, although it's more than likely they cheated you."
"Maybe they did, but I can't prove it."
With added thanks, Gus Plum took the eighty-five dollars and placed it carefully away in an inner pocket.
"I'll write the men a note to meet me Saturday afternoon," said he. "Will that suit you?"
"Yes, but don't meet them at the tavern. The depot will be better."
